These are letters from our
readers about lubrication additives in aircraft.

What are good lubrication additives, what works and what doesn't work.
Send me your stories about oils, lubricants and lubrication additives so
that we will know what pilots use. Some of the lubricants may be
slick 50, energy release, lubralon, tef guard, Teflon (ptfe), moly
lube, graphite, militek, and more
keywords for this page: oil, oils,
lubricants, lubrication, oil additives, Teflon, slick 50, energy release

if you have any experience
with special lubricants and aircraft,

Please send me
email at the bottom of this page.

6-19-03

I've worked in the area of spacecraft lubrication and have experience
with burnished solid films such as Teflon, moly, etc. My experience
is that neither Teflon or molybdenum disulfide will reliably
stick to surfaces wetted with oil. (I would presume that graphite
would behave the same) The success of additives containing solid
lubricants is based on the assumption that the solid lube burnishes on
the metal surfaces to supplement the oil, especially in the thin-film
or boundary lube regime. As long as there is oil on the surface,
it won't happen. I suppose that at the end of life, the films
might form and give you a few more revolutions. In an airplane this
might make the difference between the end of the runway and 100'
short, but I don't think it's work the risk of clogged filters and oil
lines if the solids begin to agglomerate.

--Dave Snediker

Virgil Thomas <vthomas14@msn.com> wrote:
9-15-02
First heard of Microlon, a PTFE additive, about 1978 from a flier.
Follow-up with its maker claimed: Cessna had accepted it for use in new
engines, FAA was considering it, that it's PTFE resin was broken
much big difference I down finer than any other, that the guy
behind Slick 50 is a former employee selling a coarser mix,
that the refinement process is the key, and a secret.

The difference I see between that stuff and all the others,
is that only Microlon recommends only one application for the life
of an engine. And they claim that they're FAA approved and accepted
even more strongly by Cessna. How does one investigate
and verify or debunk that claim?

4-10-02
Marvel Mystery Oil,
I think its great. I have used it in both a round engine and a IO520,
both in the oil and the fuel. I swear by it. Mark

6-25-2000

Polytetrafluorethelene (Teflon) PTFE engine treatments

as it's most commonly known cannot work inside of an internal combustion
engine as the rings would scrape off the coating. Also it was first introduced
to help sell the formula SLick 50 stated with back in 1978. The inventor
John Bishop also sold Lubrilon, using his same formula, and Teflon as the
Concept sales gimmic... It also opened a Pandora's box. Out jumped every
Tom Dick and Harry selling Teflon Products claiming everything under the
sun. Yet only one product stands today that carried with it testings by
the US Department of Energy, FAA, Consumers Digest, Franklin Institute,
US Army, as well as others, including time. http://xcelplus.com
Check it out and read the lab tests.

6-25-2000

I read that some of your readers are interested in information
about engine treatments.

I worked inside this industry for 7 years and have a lot to tell. maybe
I can help. I know first hand chemistries in Slick
50 (1978-1984) to current. Prolong Duralube, as well as Engine
Muscle, Motor UP and a couple hundred others. I suggest you first go to
the FTC web site adn see the lawsuits that they have against Slick 50 (current
formula) Prolong, Duralube, Motor UP Valvoline as well as a couple of others.
Slick 50 used to be FAA tested and accepted until the inventor John Bishop
quit supplying them formula. You can still get this formula at http://xcelplus.com
Products such as Prolong, Duralube, Motor UP, Friction Wedge, Energy Release
and a couple of others use high concentrations of Chlorinated polymers
to enhance the oil, yet the chemistry turns to hydrochloric acid in the
combustion chamber... If this is information your readers may enjoy knowing
I could help you out...
Thanks,
Bill

Date: Wed, 3 Mar 1999 08:32:42 -0600
From: Paul
TEFLON
Webmaster
Years ago I had a Cessna 150 with 2000 TTE and it was ready for an
overhaul. I added a Teflon treatment of which I can't remember the
name but I believe the company was Sperry Rand. It gave
me another 150 RPM on takeoff and about the same in cruise.
I flew the airplane another two years and 200 hours before
I overhauled it. I never put the treatment in the new
engine. My perception is that it helped an old and tired engine,
but I don't have any data to back this up.
Paul

Wed, 22 Dec 1999
from Shari-Kevin
Marvel Mystery Oil

I've used MMO for five years and wouldn't fly without it !!! I run a
Continental IO-360 in a hawk XP,The mechanics at my FBO cannot believe
how smooth and powerful my engine is. I only use 2 Oz. per 10 Gallons of
fuel not the 4 Oz. they say on the can, Gee! Maybe they sell more that way.
I don't use it in the crankcase but I'm sure it would do just fine.

VW Pilot

From the Webmaster.

Click Here's the lubrication additive that I use. It's called
Energy Release. I use it in everything that I can think of, anywhere
that there is metal to metal contact. I have used Energy Release
for fourteen years now and it is fantastic. I use it in my engine,
wheel bearings, transmission and differential in my car and in the transmission
of my motorcycle with the wet clutches. This stuff is not a lubricant.
It works by modifying the surface wear of the metal parts allowing them
to wear to an extreme polish, therefore making the lubrication that you
already use to work much better. I have never found anything that
works better and most of the things that I use don't even work as far as
I can tell.

There is one side effect that I love about this stuff and that is that
it causes the carbon in the rings and engine components to just melt away
letting the rings work the way they are supposed to work. I buy Energy
Release from a mechanic named John Serven at 309-445-4559. He has
grease, spray, oil additive liquid and a fuel cleaner that is fantastic
too. I'm telling you the truth about ER and I believe that if it
was used in aerobatic aircraft or experimental aircraft, that you would
find the same fantastic results that I found in my motors. I don't
have a medical and doubt if I can ever pass a medical so I don't have an
airplane, but I have used in aircraft before and have had only positive
results with higher R's and more power.